PM praises Faris for attack on white collar crime

The Prime Minister has praised Rural Development and Local Government Minister Faris Al-Rawi for leading Government's attack on white collar crime over the last seven years when he was attorney general.

Dr Rowley praised Al-Rawi at a PNM public meeting in San Fernando on Thursday.

On May 15, Miami Dade Circuit Court judge Reemberto Diaz ruled that former government minister Brian Kuei Tung, businessman Steve Ferguson and Raul Gutierrez Jr must pay $1 billion to Government over criminal conduct linked to the Piarco Airport project.

Al-Rawi took over the Miami case ten years ago and retained it after Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, was disqualified from representing TT earlier this year.

After the judgment, he said in a matter of days, the State will begin enforcement proceedings, once the three defendants declare their assets, as they are required to do under US law, which will be traced.

Al-Rawi said the recovery of the restitution owed to TT would run separately from any appeal the three defendants chose to lodge.

Kuei Tung, Ferguson and Gutierrez have all filed appeals against the judge's final judgment.

Rowley described the May 15 court decision in Government's favour as the culmination of Al-Rawi's efforts to lay the groundwork to combat white collar crime.

He said this vindicated his decision to appoint Al-Rawi as AG for the last seven years. Armour replaced Al-Rawi last year.

PNM supporters cheered and applauded Rowley told Al-Rawi: "mission accomplished!"

He said Al-Rawi's efforts to deal with corruption and specifically white collar crime, was the reason why the UNC tried to discredit him about property in Port-of-Spain owned by his wife's family.

But Rowley added that Al-Rawi always did the right thing whenever matters such as this came before Cabinet.

He told PNM supporters, "You the people must feel comforted in the fact that he doesn't stay in he cabinet and direct the business. He recuses himself." Rowley observed that only in the eyes of the UNC, is recusal a crime.

He described the behavior of the UNC when Armour was disqualified from the Miami case, as reprehensible.

"They were happy like pappy and they thought the case in Miami should be thrown out."

Reminding supporters that the Piarco scandal began in 1998 under the UNC, Rowley said he offered advice to a former colleague of his, who crossed the floor from the PNM to the UNC, at that time.

"I said, 'I served in the government with you. Pull up your socks because I don't want to have to tell my children that you went to jail'."

Rowley reminded Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar that a local government election victory does not result in a change at central government level.

He recalled that before the House passed the Miscellaneous Provisions (Establishment of the Borough of Diego Martin and Borough of Siparia) Bill, 2021 on Wednesday, Persad-Bissessar boasted that the UNC would win "the borough (of Siparia)."

Rowley said the UNC could do that, "but we are going to win the city (of San Fernando)."